Union workers at Anchor Brewing Company, the oldest craft brewer in the United States, want to buy the 127-year-old company and run it as a cooperative to avoid closing, a union official said.
The company said last week that economic pressures, including the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, left it with “no choice but to make this sad decision to cease operations.” But employees, given 60 days’ notice and promised severance pay, have suggested a way to keep the beer flowing.
The employees have “decided to make an effort to purchase the brewery and run it as a workers’ cooperative,” according to a letter of proposal from the Anchor employees. Pedro de Sá, the business agent at International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6, whose members are also employees at Anchor, sent the proposal Wednesday to Mike Minami, the president of Sapporo USA, which owns the company.
“All we want is a fair chance to continue doing our job, making the beer we love and keeping this historic institution open,” the letter said. “We don’t want the brewery and brand we love to be sold before we’ve even had the chance.”
On Wednesday, the unionized Anchor employees posted a link to the VinePair article on Twitter: “Time to put everyone’s love for this brand to the test. Let’s solve this together and bring back what we almost lost.”
Sam Singer, an Anchor spokesperson, did not comment Thursday on the proposal, but said about two dozen investors and individuals had expressed interest in acquiring Anchor Brewing Co.’s assets.
“It is heartening to see so many stepping forward to potentially continue the tradition of an iconic San Francisco company and beer,” said Mr. Singer. “We remain hopeful that Anchor will be purchased and continue in the future, but it will be in the hands of the liquidator to make that decision and will depend on what is offered by potential buyers.”
The Japanese beer giant Sapporo acquired the company, founded in 1896, in 2017 for around $85 million. In 2019, Anchor employees voted to unionize, citing a lack of pay and unfair working conditions.
Mr de Sá said in an interview on Thursday that he had met with the 39 workers who are members of the union, who represent about two-thirds of the brewery’s workforce. At a meeting at the factory on Wednesday, workers had agreed to form a committee to review the bylaws and take further steps to compete for ownership.
“There was an agreement to set up the cooperative and try to buy it from Sapporo, and we notified the company that same day,” said Mr. de Sá. “We hope the company will give workers a fair chance.”
But the August 2 start of the liquidation process for the company was looming.
“The timeline is very short,” Mr de Sá said. “As far as we know, the company is being sold for parts and we want to have enough time to make a serious offer.”
When the closure was announced on July 12, ILWU Local 6 described it as a “tragic consequence” of a major corporation acquiring a local institution from a base across the Pacific and “not understanding how to market it are marketed, sold and distributed. great product that has been loved for generations.”
Anchor has stopped brewing but has said it will continue to sell beer until it runs out or until the end of July, whichever comes first. Anchor Public Taps would sell the remaining inventory.
After word of the impending closure spread, fans lined up outside the tap room to buy T-shirts and cases of beer and to empty the remaining stock, The Associated Press reported. In the Bay Area, NBC News reported this week that other investors had expressed interest in bailing out the brewery.
For Sapporo, Anchor Steam was “just another line item in the budget,” the union said at the time, but workers and the city of San Francisco “are suffering the consequences.”
